Every Breath I Take
by TakeCareBear
Summary: Brave Heart finds himself up against No-Heart. What happens when No-Heart knocks him in the water is a shock to the entire Care Bear Family. Many Care Bear fans consider the Care Bear family immortal.. but what would happen if they weren't?


Every Breath I Take  
  
Notes: All rights to the care bears belong to DIC, Nelvana, Play Along Toys, care-bears.com, ect.  
  
This was partly inspired by An Interview with Take Care Bear, which can be found at my personal website or at The Memories Board.  
  
There's nothing bad here.. it's just a little different.. I am giving it a PG13 rating because of the topic it deals with.  
  
And thanks to Mariel for looking over the original, giving it a title, and telling me it was good enough to be seen by others. I didn't think I would put this one on the net, until I talked to her.  
  
On to the story..... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -  
  
No-Heart sat in his castle trying to come up with yet another plan to defeat the Care Bears. His spells never worked, capturing Hugs and Tugs didn't work, he seemed to almost be out of ideas. Determined not to be defeated, he started thinking about what his next plan would be.  
  
Finally, he came up with what seemed like a brilliant but extremely simple plan. "I can't capture and defeat them all when they are together, but what if I defeated them one by one!"  
  
"Beastly! Get in here! We're going to Care-A-Lot!" No-Heart bellowed. Beastly followed orders, even though he knew No-Hearts plans never worked, and seriously doubted this one would.  
  
No-Heart and Beastly headed for Care-A-Lot, but then No-Heart changed his mind. "I think the Forest of Feelings would be better, and Brave Heart will be my first victim, he should be very easy."  
  
"Yes boss" said Beastly as he changed directions and headed for the Forest of Feelings.  
  
Unfortunatley for No-Heart, and especially not good for Brave Heart, Brave Heart had woken up feeling even more brave than usual.  
  
As Brave Heart walked along the Rainbow River practicing his roar, No- Heart and Beastly appeared.  
  
"All alone" said No-Heart, "isn't that a shame. I knew you'd be easy to defeat!"  
  
"Oh no you don't" said Brave Heart and with that he started a Care Bear Cousin Call.  
  
Unfortunately one Care Bear Cousin against No Heart wasn't much of a match.  
  
"Pathetic" said No Heart as he used his powers to toss Brave Heart into the water.  
  
"Oh no.." said Brave Heart. Soon he found himself in the middle of the Rainbow river, and he'd never learned to swim. In shallow water he could manage, but not in the middle of the Rainbow River.  
  
"Help!" he cried, he knew he was in big trouble "HELP!" He tried to swim towards the shore, but it was no use..  
  
"Well that was easier than I ever imagined" said No-Heart, "almost too easy." He looked around the area to see if any of the others were around.  
  
"Help!, Help!" Brave Heart continued to call out.  
  
Swift Heart, Cozy Heart, Playful Heart, Birthday, Friend and Cheer were having a picnic nearby. Swift Heart had seen Brave Heart's cousin call and and heard his cries for help.  
  
"What's he gotten himself into now?" Friend Bear wondered out loud.  
  
"I don't know," said Swift Heart, "but he was using his cousin call, so we'd better be prepared for anything."  
  
"Sounds like he's at... the Rainbow River" said Swift Heart.  
  
"The river?" asked Playful Heart.. the group knew water wasn't usually a good place for Brave Heart.  
  
The group began to run towards the river, and got there just in time to see Brave Heart's head go underwater.  
  
"Swift Heart, go find Take Care Bear," said Cozy as she jumped in to rescue Brave Heart.. she had a bad feeling about this. Swift Heart didn't have to be told twice and took off running for Care-A-Lot.  
  
Playful, Birthday, Friend and Cheer saw No-Heart and Beastly trying to escape. A quick care bear stare sent the two running for No-Hearts castle.  
  
Meanwhile Swift Heart had arrived in Care-A-Lot even faster than normal. He almost broke down Take Care's door which obviously startled Take Care Bear. By the look on Swift Heart's face she knew something was wrong, but she didn't know what.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked him.  
  
Brave Heart was knocked into the Rainbow River.. No time to explain.. Just come on!" Swift Heart said..  
  
Take Care took the hint this wasn't just a usual fall in the water for Brave Heart. She ran out and got into her cloud car ambulance and actually managed to beat Swift Heart back to the Forest of Feelings, but not by much.  
  
Cozy Heart had pulled Brave Heart out of the water, but she knew he wasn't ok.  
  
Take Care had landed in the forest and walked over. Seeing the look on Cozy's face proved to Take Care this wasn't good. The bears and cousins moved away from Brave Heart as Take Care walked over to him.  
  
Without saying a word, Take Care went to work. This was something he honestly never thought she would have to face. She could tell immediatley he wasn't breathing, and when she checked for a pulse was none.  
  
She knew what had to be done, so she started CPR. The others watched from a close distance, but not close enough to disturb her.  
  
The first try brought no results. He was lifeless...  
  
She tried it again and checked for a pulse. Nothing, now even she was worried.. "Could he really be...?" she wondered and thought to herself, but she knew she couldn't think like that..  
  
She hoped a third attempt would work...  
  
She checked for a pulse...  
  
First nothing....  
  
But then.. there was one.. not the greatest of a pulse, but enough to prove he was back. He was also breathing, and started to cough up water. She turned him over, so that he could cough up the water without choking himself.  
  
When he had finished coughing she immediately put him in her cloud car and headed for her office. She was pretty sure he would be ok now, but she wasn't taking any chances.  
  
The others stood their shocked, still not entirely certain of what had just happened.  
  
After a few mintues, Swift Heart finally broke the silence. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's follow her." With that, he took off for Care-A-Lot at top speed, and the others jumped in cloud cars and followed.  
  
Even with the others in cloud cars, Swift Heart still managed to beat them back to Care-A-Lot.  
  
Soon Take Care's waiting room was packed, as word spread about what had happened. They waited in silence, no one seemed to know what to say.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, Take Care finally came out.  
  
All eyes were on her as she said.. "He will be ok." She'd never heard so many sighs of relief.  
  
"Are you sure?" said Noble Heart.  
  
"Yes," said Take Care, "that's what took so long, I wasn't coming out her until I knew for certain, but all tests have had good results. He's not awake yet, but he will be fine"  
  
Noble Heart nodded his head, for the first time since Take Care had known him, he seemed not to know what to say.  
  
Cozy Heart seemed most relived by the news, but she was still quite shaken by the events. She sat closest to the doorway where Take Care was standing, and Take Care could see a tear fall down her face.  
  
"When I pulled him out.. he was..." she couldn't finish her sentence, but Take Care knew what she was trying to say.  
  
Take Care sat down beside Cozy, in the last empty chair in the room, and put her arm around her. For the first time, Take Care was actually dealing with what had happened, before she'd been to busy to deal with the emotion behind it all..  
  
"Yes, Cozy.. he was actually..." her sentence almost stoped.. but she finished it barely above a whisper.. "dead."  
  
Hearing herself say that was hard to deal with, and Cozy immideatley started to cry.  
  
"It's ok" said Take Care, knowing she had to put her own feelings aside for the moment, "Thanks to you and Swift Heart, he's going to be fine."  
  
Noble Heart was about to argue that Take Care had a big part in it too, but he saw the look that Take Care gave him and knew this wasn't the time for that.  
  
"I know" said Cozy.. "it's just hard to deal with.. I mean.. what if?" She didn't even want to finish the sentence.  
  
"Don't think about the 'what if?'" said Take Care.. "He's ok and that's what matters."  
  
"You're right" said Cozy.. but obviously still upset.  
  
"Do you want to see him?" asked Take Care, knowing the answer, and knowing it would help Cozy to see him.  
  
"Yes" Cozy answered.  
  
So Take Care let everyone go in groups to see Brave Heart, even though he was still unconcious. She knew it would be good for him, and was sure it would be good for them as well. There was no way everyone could fit into the room he was in.  
  
"Ok, first, Cozy, Swift, Playful, Birthday, Friend, and Cheer," said Take Care, "since you were the ones who found him."  
  
They spent some time with him, which seemed to help Cozy, even though Take Care knew Cozy really wanted to be able to talk to him.  
  
As the last group left, Brave Heart began to wake up. Take Care looked in the waiting room, and just as she though, Cozy was still there, along with Swift and Playful.  
  
"He's waking up" said Take Care. "Do you want to talk to him?"  
  
This time, Cozy didn't even have to answer, and Swift and Playful followed her.  
  
"What happened?" asked Brave Heart, seeing that he was in Take Care's office, and it was obvious whatever happened wasn't good.  
  
"You almost got yourself into more trouble than any of us could get you out of" said Playful Heart, "and that's no laughing matter."  
  
"Do you remember anything?" asked Take Care.  
  
Brave heart took a few mintues to think, his thoughts were fuzzy, but he remembered some details. "I know No-Heart was in the Forest of Feelings, and I tried to use a cousin call to stop him, but I wound up in the water, and I'm not quite sure how.. The next thing I remember is being turned over and coughing up water."  
  
"That's what I expected, except I'm surprised you even remember coughing" said Take Care "and it's probably a good thing you don't remember anything else"  
  
"Why?" asked Brave Heart.  
  
"Take Care had to do CPR" said Swift Heart, "and I think she even began wonder if it was going to work."  
  
"Oh.. you mean.. I.." his voice trailed off.  
  
"Yes" said Take Care, not even bothering to finish the sentence, she wasn't sure she could say it again. It hurt too much the first time.  
  
"Oh" said Brave Heart, not quite sure what to think.  
  
"See any bright lights or your life flash before your eyes?" asked Playful Heart, trying to lighten the mood a little.  
  
Take Care had to smile, just a little. Leave it to Playful Heart to ask something like that.  
  
"No" said Brave Heart with a laugh, "I don't remember anything at least."  
  
"Take Care.." Cozy Heart began...  
  
Take Care turned her attention to Cozy Heart.  
  
"I know Brave Heart's not much of a swimmer.. but shouldn't he have been able to get out of the river, after all, he usually does." she said.  
  
"Usually someone helps me" Brave Heart admitted.  
  
It was true Brave Heart had never been a good swimmer, but usually he could get himself out of major trouble. Although she would never know for sure, Take Care thought she knew why he couldn't this time.  
  
"That's true" said Take Care, "still, you have gotten out before, and you should have been able to this time. I think whatever spell No-Heart used to knock you in the water, somehow kept you from getting out, and the fact that you can hardly swim, only made it worse."  
  
"Sounds reasonable" said Brave Heart, "I'll take any explanation I can get."  
  
After they had talked awhile, Take Care spoke up, "I think it's time Brave Heart got some rest, and it's getting late anyway."  
  
"She's right" said Swift Heart, "It's already 9 o'clock, we'd better head back to the Forest of Feelings.  
  
The three soon left, and after a little while, Take Care went to bed herself.  
  
She soon figured out she wasn't going to sleep good, but that didn't surprise her, it had been an unusual day to say the least. At four a.m. she finally decided to stop trying, and went to Brave Heart's room. He was sleeping soundly, and she sat down to read a book.  
  
"No need to worry about me that much" he said when he woke up an hour later.  
  
"Can't sleep" she replied, "I figured I might as well do something useful," pointing to the book she was reading.  
  
"I see" he said with a smile. "I think you're probably just thinking too much."  
  
"I know," she said with a smile, "but I can't help that. It's kind of hard not to think."  
  
"Thanks" said Brave Heart.  
  
"For what?" asked Take Care.  
  
"For what?" said Brave Heart, "you saved my life, don't act like that's not a big deal, because it is"  
  
"Yes" said Take Care "but if it wasn't for Cozy and Swift, I never would have known."  
  
"Don't worry.. I'll thank them as soon as I see them' he said with a smile. "Still, if it hadn't been for you.." his voice trailed off.  
  
"Don't say that.. I've been thinking about that enough for both of us" she said seriously. She knew he was right, but she also wondered what if the CPR hadn't of worked.. the "what if's" had been on her mind all night.  
  
Both were silent for a few minutes.. "You're welcome" Take Care finally said, "but you really don't have to thank me, after all, they didn't give me the name Take Care Bear for nothing."  
  
Brave Heart smiled, knowing she was right. She'd do anything for any one of them, and everyone in the family knew it.  
  
"Go back to sleep, you'll be swamped with visitors in a couple of hours" said Take Care with a laugh.  
  
Brave Heart did as he was told.  
  
Sure enough, Brave Heart had a visit from everyone in the Care Bear family that day. No Heart watched in disgust from his castle.  
  
"Some day, they'll all me mine!" he said as he went to work on another plan.  
  
"Yes, boss" was Beastly's only reply.  
  
Take Care let Brave Heart go back to the Forest of Feelings with a promise that he would let Cozy attempt once again, to teach him to swim.  
  
"And if you don't learn this time, then I want you to stay as far away from deep water as possible, got it?" Take Care asked.  
  
"Yes" said Brave Heart with a laugh.  
  
"Good" said Take Care with a grin.  
  
Cozy took Brave Heart for his first swimming lesson, and Take Care headed back inside her office.  
  
Unfortunatley Brave Heart never did learn to swim, but he does stay away from deep water, especially when No-Heart is around...  
  
THE END 


End file.
